1-26-23, Day 25 In PTL Perrin’s Life

Welcome to day twenty-five of A Day In My Life! Happy Thursday!

Who doesn’t like to travel? New places are fun to see, but the road trip I like best is one where we revisit places we’ve lived and where we built lives.

When Bill and I met, he lived in Holland and I lived in Newtown, both towns in Bucks County, northeast of Philadelphia. We married in Newtown and settled there for a while.

A lot of history happened in Bucks County. William Penn bought the land and founded Newtown in 1682. Newtown was the County Seat of Bucks County from 1726 to 1813, before it was moved to Doylestown.

In 1776, General GeorgeWashington made his headquarters in Newtown after the Battle of Trenton and the famed crossing of the Delaware River. The town that was built where he actually crossed the Delaware is known as (drumroll please) Washington’s Crossing, Bucks County.

The Bird-In-Hand was built as a private home around 1686. Over the years, it became a tavern, a post office, and a tavern again, and has been known as the Bird-In-Hand for over 200 years. This structure has stood at this corner for 337 years and is believed to be the oldest frame building in Pennsylvania.

Bill and I drove through Newtown, which we always do when we visit our kids who live nearby. We love this little town, but when we visit, it’s for one specific purpose. We’ll get to that. Meanwhile, I’ll share a few drive-by photos with you.

Have you seen the 2002, M. Night Shyamalan movie SIGNS, starring Mel Gibson, Joaquin Phoenix, and Rory Culkin? It’s about crop circles and alien encounters, and it was one of my favorites. That movie was filmed in Bucks County, and several scenes were filmed in, you guessed it, Newtown!

Here are some drive-by photos for your viewing pleasure:

Built in 1763, The Brick Hotel is a fifteen-room inn with a classy restaurant, Rocco’s Steakhouse & Bar. Our son worked there back in the day, and we’d go there for special occasions. Hmmm. We have an anniversary coming up.

The Newtown Theater has been the center of entertainment in town since 1906. It smelled like Aunt Bernice’s attic (a bit musty, with a warm hint of sawdust) and showed one newish movie release a month. It’s like PBIEA in that many live performances grace its stage. I recall seeing a live Christmas performance there once.

I loved walking up and down State Street to shop at stores with original colonial flooring and the scents of over a hundred years of occupancy soaked into the walls–whiffs of incense and cinnamon, old books and furniture polish. The owners took great pride in offering up-to-date goods in some stores, and antiques in others.

I took pride in my beautiful town, especially in the Spring when the pear trees lining the streets bloomed, or on July 4 when the whole town turned out for the patriotic small-town parade. We had the traditional tree lighting and caroling over Christmas, and an occasional ice storm would drape the trees in glittering crystals.

One such ice storm, the day before our wedding, convinced us to move to Florida. Now we visit with one destination in mind.

Yep! Rita’s Water Ice, Newtown, Pennsylvania! The BEST Gelati, Italian ices, and custard treats in the good old USA! This is the reason we only visit in the summer, because it’s only OPEN in the summer! This location has been here since before I moved to Newtown, back in the 1900s. It has been our go-to place for treats ever since.

Note to self: Rita’s is a franchise and you can find them all over the Northeast, and maybe elsewhere. However. THIS Rita’s is firmly set in my heart as the best. Perhaps because it has so much history.

Is there a place you love to visit? A particular attraction? Tell me about it!

Here’s my to-do list for today:

1. Write my daily blog. (Check!)
2. Read the blogs of everyone participating in this challenge and comment. (daily)
3. Read and critique my writer’s group’s chapters.
4. Take a nap.
5. Spend a few hours editing my friend’s book.
6. Relax with dinner and a movie and Bill.

Thank you for reading my blog today, and please visit my friends and fellow RRBC Bloggers at  https://ravereviewsbookclub.wordpress.com/rrbc-member-chat/

Blessings!

Patty Perrin (writing as P.T.L. Perrin)

https://www.ptlperrin.org

1-25-23, Day 24 In PTL Perrin’s Life

Welcome to day twenty-four of A Day In My Life! Happy Wednesday!

Yesterday and today are catch up days for me. Here’s what I did.

After I wrote and published my blog post for yesterday, I took the ornaments off the tree, catalogued them and packed them away. This is a good-bye-until-next-year photo. The tree stands naked in the living room, and I feel my heart drop every time I see the poor thing. Sometime today or tomorrow, Bill and I will take it apart and store it in its box for next year. Then I’ll put the normal clutter (er…knickknacks and photos) back on the shelves and clean up. Once that’s done, Christmas will officially be packed up and put away. Why do I feel a little sad? It’ll be nice to get back to not worrying about getting that job done.

As the unwilling ad-hoc treasurer for two corporations, I went through their accounts yesterday afternoon to prepare them for our tax accountant. Thankfully, it didn’t take long.

I have to do the same for our personal business accounts, which is much more complicated and takes a lot of time. Since I paid the annual report fee for both yesterday, there’s no rush. I’ll try not to think about them for the next month or so.

Today, I will spend a few hours working on my editing project. The author is a wonderful woman with a great story. What God has done in her life amazes me.

I combed through several years’ worth of photos for ideas for more posts, and saved quite a few of them. I wish I’d catalogued them while I saved them. I’ll pick one at random and share it with you here.

This was me at age two in Germany. From the look on my face, it’s obvious to me that I was born with attitude. German was my first language. We lived in the house my mother grew up in. My grandparents doted on me, but after we moved to the USA, it would be years before I saw them again. I understand now what a heartache that was for them. Although we see our grandkids often, we live far from most of them, and I miss them.

Enough randomness. My brain is having a hissy fit, so we will go to a quiet place, take a nap, and decide what to share with you tomorrow. I look forward to reading how your day went and what memories you’ll share with us.

Are all your photos in albums, either virtual folders or real photo albums? Do you like to go through them and remember other times?

Here’s my to-do list for today:

1. Write my daily blog. (Check!)
2. Read the blogs of everyone participating in this challenge and comment. (daily)
3. Read and critique my writer’s group’s chapters.
4. Take a nap.
5. Spend a few hours editing my friend’s book.
6. Take down the tree, box it, and clean up.
7. Relax with dinner and a movie and Bill.

Thank you for reading my blog today, and please visit my friends and fellow RRBC Bloggers at  https://ravereviewsbookclub.wordpress.com/rrbc-member-chat/

Blessings!

Patty Perrin (writing as P.T.L. Perrin)

https://www.ptlperrin.org

1-24-23, Day 23 In PTL Perrin’s Life

Welcome to day twenty-three of A Day In My Life! Happy Tuesday!

“The pen is mightier than the sword.” This adage was coined by English author Edward Bulwer-Lytton in 1839 for his play Richelieu; Or the Conspiracy. (Wikipedia) It was meant as a political statement, but that’s not where I’m going with this. I believe what it says, but mighty means a lot of things.

The pen can be a weapon in the hands of some writers, or a comfort in the hands of others. Or perhaps both dagger and hugs from the same writer, depending upon what they’re addressing. We all know that words can be life-changing or life-enriching. Sometimes they’re simply entertaining. I like to surround myself with them.

My favorite mug reminds me that my writing time is alone time. Dire consequences await the person reckless enough to annoy me while I’m in the zone. I have given fair warning.

This sign hangs on a cabinet next to my desk. Visitors, beware! If you’re brave enough to watch me write, then you might find yourself in the story. I won’t promise you’ll like your character.

I love the next one. Since our office is a converted den, we have no doors, so it hangs over the printer, next to the open doorway. It describes our lives since I stopped working at an office quite a few years ago.

Over 25 years ago, we started a home-based business that replaced my work income. While Bill also taught tennis, which is his dream job, we worked our business together and had the best time. We earned some fabulous trips where our company completely spoiled us. The company also sent us around the country and to Canada to train others, and we met many wonderful people during those active years. It set me free from corporate schedules and headaches. Bill’s tennis career was already flexible, and our business only improved his tennis. We’ve since cut back on our activities, but we still have our hand in it, and it provides a nice cushion in these golden years.

The next sign is my favorite one in the office.

It reminds me to keep going, even when I want to give up. On days when my energy is low, I look at this, repeat it out loud, and I feel strength returning. When my eyes lose focus from staring at the screen too long, this draws my attention.

A poster of my first published book, certificates, awards, and Bill’s UF degree, also adorn our office walls. A framed article about this “Jupiter Author.” sporting my blue-haired photo hangs there, too. The one item, pictured below, that is most meaningful to me hangs on the wall just above my computer screen on the right.

In case you can’t read the tag at the bottom, Man of Sorrows was painted in 1929 by a woman whose signature I cannot decipher. She painted it with words, namely every word spoken by Jesus in the Bible.

These words might be the most powerful on the planet, mightier than any weapon, from sword to nuclear arms. They have the power to save, to heal, to challenge, to grow, to protect, and to lead us Home. I’m learning to live by them, and my life has fundamentally changed since I discovered them years ago.

Thanks for joining me on a tour of our home office walls. Do you have inspirational or cheeky sayings you’re fond of, perhaps that you keep close at hand for those moments when you need a reminder? Share them with me!

Here’s my to-do list for today:

1. Write my daily blog. (Check!)
2. Read the blogs of everyone participating in this challenge and comment. (daily)
3. Get serious about crunching numbers!
4. Get the ornaments that are now spread out over the living room into their containers. (Getting really specific now.)
5. Spend an hour editing my friend’s book.
6. Relax with dinner and a movie and Bill.

Thank you for reading my blog today, and please visit my friends and fellow RRBC Bloggers at  https://ravereviewsbookclub.wordpress.com/rrbc-member-chat/

Blessings!

Patty Perrin (writing as P.T.L. Perrin)

https://www.ptlperrin.org

1-23-23, Day 22 In PTL Perrin’s Life

Welcome to day twenty-two of A Day In My Life! Happy Monday!

Let me tell you about this tree. It sits between our house and our neighbor’s. I couldn’t tell you what kind it is, but it’s young. The photo was taken from our office window.

In September, hurricane Ian swept across Florida, from the Gulf of Mexico to the Atlantic, its direct path only a few miles north of us. We had some powerful wind gusts, but no significant damage where we are, except for that tree, the one in the photo. We found it lying on the ground after the storm. Our lawn maintenance company replanted it and added the stake for stability, and we hoped it would take root and thrive.

In November, hurricane Nicole paid us a visit, and the youngster was knocked down again. Was this the end? We watched the maintenance crew right it again and drive the stake deeper. I prayed it would be okay.

In late December, the poor tree lost all its leaves. It happened overnight. Green leaves covered the branches one day, and the next morning, they covered the ground around it. I was sure it had died from storm trauma. Poor thing had been uprooted twice already. It couldn’t possibly have survived. I grieved a bit and waited for the crew to haul it away. They came, they mowed, they swept up the leaves and left the bare tree standing.

Our community is a stickler for healthy yards, including bushes and trees. They’re still building in here and want to present a perfect picture to prospective buyers, after all. Perhaps they ignored this little guy because passing cars most likely wouldn’t glimpse it standing between two houses. Who would notice one little bare stick in the ground?

Today, I opened the window as I usually do nearly every winter day. Imagine my astonishment when yesterday’s naked branches now sported green leaves and spring flowers! I promptly took the photo. If you look closely, you’ll see the newly opened blooms. They were not there yesterday.

I shouldn’t be surprised. I’ve seen it before in this amazing state. In one month, the little tree experienced Autumn, Winter, and now Spring. By the end of January, it will have started its next long, long summer. I don’t know what it is. I call it the Miracle Tree.

I do know what this one is! It’s a confused magnolia in our front yard. In this photo, taken last year, it was in bloom when magnolias are supposed to bloom. Throughout the rest of the year, it’ll produce one or two single flowers at random. It keeps the bees and me happy.

Here’s my to-do list for today:

1. Write my daily blog. (Check!)
2. Read the blogs of everyone participating in this challenge and comment. (daily)
3. Get serious about crunching numbers!
4. Put away the tree ornaments. (Getting specific now.)
5. Spend an hour editing my friend’s book.
6. Relax with dinner and a movie and Bill.

Thank you for reading my blog today, and please visit my friends and fellow RRBC Bloggers at  https://ravereviewsbookclub.wordpress.com/rrbc-member-chat/

Blessings!

Patty Perrin (writing as P.T.L. Perrin)

https://www.ptlperrin.org

1-22-23, Day 21 In PTL Perrin’s Life

Welcome to day twenty-one of A Day In My Life! Happy Sunday!

We had a wonderful time at the theater with our friends last evening. Guerrilla Theater is different from anything PBIEA had done before.

The stage set was a replica of what ‘backstage’ might look like to potential actors coming in for an audition. The actors sat in the audience, and Donna, the director, sat ‘backstage’ with a handful of scripts, each one a different scenario and in a different tone. She chose a script and assigned the parts to actors who had never read that script before. They were to act the part they were given and had only a couple minutes to review it.

Although some were supposed to be serious, each one had the audience laughing. The acting was great, despite it being a first read-through, and the body language, movements, and facial expressions totally fit the dialogue. Call me impressed.

As we applauded after the final script, Donna had a surprise for us. She called several people in the audience to audition, too!

Each audition included one of the seasoned actors and the unsuspecting victim–uh, audience member. The rest of us good-naturedly encouraged the reader. The amateurs were just as entertaining, and we laughed just as much as during the first time the actors played the part.

And then she called me. I auditioned for the part of a mother who hadn’t seen her adult son in years. They communicated only through letters. I read the mom’s letters to her son, while Avery Siders read the son’s responses to his mother.

As it turned out, I really got into the part! The long-distance dialogue was funny, and I enjoyed playing it up. Avery acted his part like a pro. If I didn’t have zero ability to memorize, it would be fun to take an acting class. Instead, I’ll write another essay for another Tongues a’Wagging and simply read it on stage sometime in the future.

Today, I’m taking a day to rest after church. There is a remote possibility that I might motivate myself to accomplish at least one thing on my to-do list, other than numbers one and two. They’re haunting me now, those bins in the living room and the beautifully hypnotic tree waiting to be lit and admired. And I MUST get those accounts taken care of! Good-bye, restful nap. Hello soon-to-be checked-off-the-list items!

Yesterday was day TWENTY, two-thirds of the way through the RRBC 30-Day Blogging Challenge. Look what I found in my email! Thank you, Nonnie!

See y’all on Monday. Have you ever been to Newtown, Pennsylvania? Maybe we’ll take a little memory trip there next week.

Here’s my to-do list for today:

1. Write my daily blog. (Check!)
2. Read the blogs of everyone participating in this challenge and comment. (daily)
3. Balance our checkbooks. (If not today, then tomorrow for sure.)
4. Start taking down the Christmas tree. (The bins are safely stored in the garage!)
5. Spend an hour editing my friend’s book.
6. Get tax information together for four corporations. (Must do by this time next week!)
7. Relax after knocking out a few of these items. Yeah, right.

Thank you for reading my blog today, and please visit my friends and fellow RRBC Bloggers at  https://ravereviewsbookclub.wordpress.com/rrbc-member-chat/

Blessings!

Patty Perrin (writing as P.T.L. Perrin)

https://www.ptlperrin.org

1-21-23, Day 20 In PTL Perrin’s Life

Welcome to day twenty of A Day In My Life! Happy Saturday!

I’ll post this earlier than usual today because this afternoon, Bill and I are meeting nine of our friends for an early-bird dinner at Tiramisu, a lovely Italian trattoria in North Palm Beach. After dinner, we’re heading over to our favorite theater to see a live production by some of the most talented actors I’ve ever met.

Palm Beach Institute for the Entertainment Arts (PBIEA) was born from the Burt Reynolds Institute for Film and Theatre. After its namesake died, my friend Donna Carbone, her husband Mike, and a dedicated group of supporters, actors, and teachers stayed together, renamed the institute, and have built a thriving, active theater and writing community dedicated to education through entertainment.

In their own words, from the website: “The Palm Beach Institute for the Entertainment Arts was formed to educate, advance and enhance a knowledge of the entertainment industry and to involve the community in all aspects of the creative process. Through our classes and shows, we have cemented an ongoing supportive and interactive relationship with Florida residents.”

I can attest to the truth of that statement. I met Donna not long after I had published the last of my four-book series and had no idea how to market the books. She’s the author of an excellent crime series, and had formed A Novel Approach to Literacy, a small group of authors who would speak at various venues where they’d sell and sign their books. She invited me to be one of those authors. Donna taught me a lot about speaking in public, presenting my work, and becoming involved with our community. I consider her among my best friends.

The main characters in her crime novels are two female detectives based on her daughter, who survived a real-life brutal rape and near murder, and her daughter’s close friend, the local detective who brought her attacker to justice. Donna has written a variety of books, teaches creative writing, has written plays that have been presented around the country and in venues like the Kravis Center in West Palm Beach, and directs most of their productions.

Mike Carbone, retired now from a successful, chiropractic practice, designs and builds sets worthy of a much larger venue in quality. Avery Sommers, who produces most of their shows, is a successful Broadway actress who performs in her own shows and teaches acting at the Institute.

I love the small, intimate box theater with its comfy, mismatched seats and small stage. Every one of my friends who has come to see a production at PBIEA has loved it. The friendly cast members and crew, the cozy seating, the proximity to the stage, and the excellence of the production combine to create a truly exciting atmosphere, one we’re reluctant to leave at the end of the show. It’s no surprise that, like Bill and me, they return for more whenever they can.

I’ve had the privilege of participating in one of the most popular quarterly events the theater puts on, Tongues a’Wagging. Donna puts out a call for personal stories based on a topic she chooses. Those of us whose stories have been chosen, must read them aloud on stage in front of a live audience. I have been on stage, and I have been in the audience, and I rarely miss a Tongues a’Wagging event. The theater is nearly always sold out for all six performances.

And so, that is where I’ll be later today and until late this evening. Have you ever been on stage? Do you have a local live theater you enjoy attending? Tell me about it in the comments!

Here’s my to-do list for today:

1. Write my daily blog. (Check!)
2. Read the blogs of everyone participating in this challenge and comment. (daily)
3. Balance our checkbooks. (If not today, then tomorrow for sure.)
4. Put Christmas bins away and start taking down the Christmas tree. (*waaaah!*)
5. Spend an hour editing my friend’s book.
6. Get tax information together for four corporations. (Must do by this time next week!)
7. Put all but 1 and 2 on hold because we’re going to the THEATER today!

Thank you for reading my blog today, and please visit my friends and fellow RRBC Bloggers at  https://ravereviewsbookclub.wordpress.com/rrbc-member-chat/

Blessings!

Patty Perrin (writing as P.T.L. Perrin)

https://www.ptlperrin.org

1-20-23, Day 19 In PTL Perrin’s Life

Welcome to day nineteen of A Day In My Life! Happy Friday!

One of the things I enjoy about this 30-Day Blogging Challenge is reading about other writers’ memories. I have a few of my own that I may share in the coming days. In fact, here’s one from a few years ago, when my mom was still on this side of Heaven, living in Naples, Florida.

It was  another perfect Florida winter day, sunny and in the mid-70s. Mom, my sister, Margie, and I sat at a table in IHop, next to eight burly bikers in their colors, taking a lunch break from their ride. There was a time when my heart would have longed to go with them, but, in the words of an old cliché, “been there, done that.” I sat with my back to the group, with one ear tuned to their conversation.

“Javier went down,” I heard one man say.

“No way,” another answered. “Javi, you gonna let him talk about you that way?”

“Tell them,” a voice I assumed belonged to Javier answered.

The first voice said, “Yeah, man. It happened last month, up in the Blue Ridge. I drove the truck on those icy roads, but Javi’s hard-core. He rode ahead, taking that mountain road real slow. Hit ice on a curve and I thought he was a goner for sure. He was that close to the edge with nothing but a low guardrail that didn’t look too solid. Man, you wouldn’t believe how he got that rear end back under him. Cool as ice.”

“We’d almost reached the valley when he hit another icy patch, this time at an intersection,” the storyteller continued. “You should have seen him working his bike to get control. He danced it out of the way of an oncoming car that couldn’t stop, and almost had it. Almost, man. Then he lost it and went down.”

A collective moan rose from the table behind me and I grinned, remembering the cold ride home I’d had one day.

Javier’s voice broke in, and I could hear the smile in it. “Yeah, man. But did you see how controlled I was? Slid to a slow stop, nothin’ broken.”

The storyteller guffawed and remarked, “Yeah, Javi. Nothin’ but your pride.”

From the warmth of the Florida restaurant, I empathized with Javier. The group laughed while I relived the day a friend and I went riding along the Delaware river on the Pennsylvania side.

I rode my quiet Honda 360 Custom, like the 1976 bike pictured below, only burgundy. A group of Harley riders from my church had kindly adopted me and my rice burner, and we would explore our hilly area whenever we had time. This day, my ex had the kids and only one of the group was free to join me. He rode his roaring Harley, both of us happy with the beautiful weather and the curves of the winding, wooded road.

We stopped for lunch at a popular restaurant next to the river, oblivious to the sudden drop in temperature outside. In the space of an hour, the day turned cold and rainy, and there we were, without jackets or rain gear.

We finished lunch and headed out the door, into a freezing downpour. The waiter, an avid rider himself, brought us industrial-sized trash bags to wear against the rain. I didn’t care how crazy we looked. Those trash bags saved our lives. With hands stiffened into claws and shivering so hard I was sure we’d lose control of our bikes, we made it to my house three hours later. My friend refused to come inside and took off for his own, about a ten-minute drive farther on. The minute I made it into the house, I turned on the oven and parked myself there until I thawed.

I’m glad Javier recovered from his fall on the ice, and I’m glad my friend and I didn’t drop a bike during that freezing ride home.

Have you ever had an adventure that turned out well despite the odds? Tell me about it!

Here’s my to-do list for today:

1. Write my daily blog. (Check!)
2. Read the blogs of everyone participating in this challenge and comment. (daily)
3. Balance our checkbooks. (If not today, then tomorrow for sure.)
4. Put Christmas bins away and start taking down the Christmas tree. (*waaaah!*)
5. Spend an hour editing my friend’s book.
6. Get tax information together for four corporations. (Must do by this time next week!)
7. Bill and I are going to a community party this evening to hang out with some of our great neighbors.

Thank you for reading my blog today, and please visit my friends and fellow RRBC Bloggers at  https://ravereviewsbookclub.wordpress.com/rrbc-member-chat/

Blessings!

Patty Perrin (writing as P.T.L. Perrin)

https://www.ptlperrin.org

1-19-23, Day 18 In PTL Perrin’s Life

Welcome to day eighteen of A Day In My Life! Happy Thursday!

We had winter just five days ago, with an early morning frost and a breeze from the north keeping the feel-like temps in the icy cold range all day. Floridians who ventured out into the bitter cold wore jackets, gloves, and hats. Those from farther north wore sweaters. Today, we’re back in the upper seventies, low eighties, and all the windows in the house are open to the refreshing breeze. Have I mentioned lately that I LOVE Florida winters?

Something I read in another blogger’s post made me think about how a story grows from an idea to a plot. I regularly met with one writer’s group before Covid, where we would write to prompts. We were given about twenty minutes to write a story about a random photo; or someone would give us a character, an item, and a place. We would have to come up with something coherent and interesting from a mere suggestion in just minutes. I still laugh at some of the wild stories we wrote. How could a seed of an idea grow into an entertaining story in that short a time period?

I believe three questions are all it takes for an idea to become a plot that doesn’t get bogged down, whether in a short story or a novel. Three questions have helped me move my books along, but then I write a blend of sci-fi and fantasy. Would this method of keeping my story moving work with other genres? Why don’t you decide? These three questions work for me.

What If? Here’s were the idea germinates. What if the girl in the photo above comes to this isolated spot with a view when she needs to pull her thoughts together? What if her parents just announced they were moving? What if that boy she likes has started messing with the wrong crowd? What if she’s tired of the busyness of her life and just needs some space to breathe? What if — can run your imagination down any number of rabbit holes.

The next question might nudge the story in a certain direction. Once you know the character, the setting, and the problem (your choice), you need to ask this: What Comes Next?

Since I write what I do, it could take me somewhere like this:

An eagle snatches the girl from her lookout point and takes her to its aerie, where it drops her into its nest. From there, a young man spots her, rescues her, and takes her to his village. Nice story, but other than the rescue, where would it go from there?

That’s where the next question and the fun begins for me. This question, alternated with “what’s next?” keeps the story moving, no matter how long it is, and adds tension, excitement, color, and growth opportunities. Ready? Here it is.

What Can Possibly Go Wrong?

The girl wants to go home and figures it must be over the mountains, since the eagle flew her over them when it grabbed her. She leaves the safe village, climbs the mountain, only to discover she’s in a different world. Where is the boy who rescued her? Is he inside the city? Did he lose her? Will he find the eagle and will they rescue her together? It’s time to go back to asking, “what comes next?”

I haven’t written a story like this one. There’s no copyright, so it’s fair game if you can flesh it out and make it yours. Not so with my real stories. They are copyrighted, which may be the subject of another post. Stay tuned!

How about you? Do you have a method that keeps your story moving forward? I’d love to know!

Here’s my to-do list for today:

1. Write my daily blog. (Check!)
2. Read the blogs of everyone participating in this challenge and comment. (daily)
3. Balance our checkbooks. (Hmmmm.)
4. Put Christmas bins away and start taking down the Christmas tree. (*sob!*)
5. Spend an hour editing my friend’s book.
6. Get tax information together for four corporations. (Must do by this time next week!)
7. Make dinner and watch a movie with Bill before turning in for the night.

Thank you for reading my blog today, and please visit my friends and fellow RRBC Bloggers at  https://ravereviewsbookclub.wordpress.com/rrbc-member-chat/

Blessings!

Patty Perrin (writing as P.T.L. Perrin)

https://www.ptlperrin.org

1-18-23, Day 17 In PTL Perrin’s Life

Welcome to day seventeen of A Day In My Life! Happy Wednesday!

Authors write books from one of two approaches. They outline their story, giving it structure and good bones, and then they flesh it out. We call them outliners. The other authors write the story as it comes to them, letting it ebb and flow as it will, and then go back and make sure it has structure. We call them pantsers. They write by the seat of their pants. I’m one of those.

I’m like the girl in the picture above. My characters lead me into the story, where the landscape of my mind changes and becomes the scenes I want to get down. I see the spaces in which the action happens, and I feel and hear the characters living out the action. When I’m in the zone, where everything around me fades out and all that’s left is the story, the flow excites me, carries me, and opens doors to what comes next. My mind defies outlines. I know, because I’ve tried them.

I admire people who can outline their plot to fill in later. It seems the more logical way to make sure all the elements are in their proper place for a good flow. I imagine the outliner doesn’t run into bogs and snags and writer’s block and wandering plot holes. After all, the bones are there and they’re good ones. The flesh they cover the bones with makes for great stories.

In my case, I found that outlining takes as much time as diving right into it. As I’m outlining, I’m seeing the story unfold, fully fleshed out, and it doesn’t want to follow the lines at all.

The one time I pushed myself to do the planning and write the outline, I got so frustrated with all the scenes and characters pushing me to get them on paper, that I ditched the bones and got back to building the full creature. I’d make a lousy architect.

I credit the fact that my works of fiction are more than bowls of boneless pudding to the years I’ve been an avid reader. Once a person has read thousands of books, they should know instinctively how a story must progress, how it must feel, and how to draw the reader into it. I know other pantsers for whom this approach works well.

I can tell you that when I’m in the zone, and the story flows, I feel like I’m a child dancing in a sunny meadow, free and light and surrounded by the world I have the privilege to create.

How about you? Are you an outliner or a pantser? Why is that approach the best one for you?

By the way, my daily list of things to do is as close as I get to outlining. And because I am how I am, I do the things I want to do and ignore the rest–until time runs out and I do them, or the items drop off and fade into wisps of thought and out the door. “Wasn’t I supposed to …..?”

Thank you for reading my blog today, and please visit my friends and fellow RRBC Bloggers at  https://ravereviewsbookclub.wordpress.com/rrbc-member-chat/

Blessings!

Patty Perrin (writing as P.T.L. Perrin)

https://www.ptlperrin.org

1-17-23, Day 16 In PTL Perrin’s Life

Welcome to day sixteen of A Day In My Life! Happy Tuesday!

Remember the two questions people posed to me and other authors when we shared about our books in various venues? I answered the second one, the one about my characters, on Saturday, day thirteen. Today, I’ll do my best to answer question number one: Where did you get your idea for your story? In my case, they were referring to my four-book series. Here’s my answer.

Climate change. Long before the Coronavirus outbreak, and long before the current political climate, earth’s climate was changing. My characters had special gifts and they needed something to use them for. What if the escalating storms, earthquakes, volcanic eruptions, and various other real-life disturbances featured in the news nearly every day, were caused by something other than humans?

Ever since I read Erich von Daniken’s Chariots of the Gods in high school, I have believed that we are not alone in the universe, and that the ancient aliens still live among us. If they are here, why wouldn’t they also be concerned with global climate change? What if Earth is their home for a reason? What if they can’t go back to where they came from? What if two alien races waged war before our recorded history, wiping out all records of ancient civilizations far more advanced than we are? It would explain a lot, wouldn’t it?

As I discovered real anomalous places on our planet, like Uluru in Australia and the Crystal Cave in Mexico, the Eye of the Desert in Mauritania, and the strange happenings around Mt. Shasta in California, I determined to add them to the story. Setting is important, right?

With so many bits of information to play with, my imagination went into overdrive, and the story came together.

Too much information? The short answer to the question posed to me is this: My idea for the story came from research. Oh, yeah. The aliens didn’t cause the climate to change, either. The secret is buried in the books.

If you’re a writer, where do your ideas come from? I’d really like to know!

Here’s my to-do list for today:

1. Write my daily blog. (Check!)
2. Read the blogs of everyone participating in this challenge and comment. (daily)
3. Balance our checkbooks. (Okay, this is getting to be ridiculous. I mean, how much time does balancing checkbooks take? I WILL get it done!)
4. Pack ONE bin full of Christmas and put it away. (I’ve packed THREE! One or two more to go before I tackle the tree.)
5. Spend an hour editing my friend’s book.
6. Get tax information together for four corporations. (Who am I kidding? I can’t even get our checkbooks balanced. But I did get 3 bins packed, so that counts for something.)
7. Make dinner and watch a movie with Bill before turning in for the night.

Thank you for reading my blog today, and please visit my friends and fellow RRBC Bloggers at  https://ravereviewsbookclub.wordpress.com/rrbc-member-chat/

Blessings!

Patty Perrin (writing as P.T.L. Perrin)

https://www.ptlperrin.org